WE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

Psychic Anderson is back, with more long-winded cosmic messages of love and advice for better living. After a childhood bout with chicken pox and subsequent inflammation of his nervous system, Anderson developed his peculiar alleged abilities to look into the future and discern a benevolent pattern to our universe. The first book about Anderson, Martin & Romanowski's We Don't Die, appeared in 1988 and apparently got so much reader response that the authors had to provide a sequel. Here, Martin (a radio/cable TV host and co- author of Vanna Speaks) and Romanowski (who co-wrote The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll) focus less on the vagaries of Anderson's life and more on the impact his ``uncharted nonphysical dimension'' has on his believers. The discussion includes interviews with various people who claim Anderson brought them solace by contacting their deceased loved ones. There are also accounts from clergy, psychotherapists, and thanatologists who attempt to put Anderson's gifts into a respectable, professional perspective. Interviews often appear verbatim, and Anderson has a strange tendency to compare his encounters with the bereaved to Hollywood movie scenes. The most relevant moments are when he offers suggestions on how we may survive the spread of cancer, AIDS, urban crime, and the growth of ``Satanism.'' While Anderson's reluctant to pin himself down to a single ecumenical perspective, his Roman Catholic upbringing shows in his constant references to treasures awaiting us in the afterlife. A plodding narrative, replete with maudlin clichÇs about good living, that may comfort the faithful but will leave cynics even more dour.